Consumers and businesses rely heavily on telecommunication networks for transmission of data. Telecommunication lines comprise thousands miles of telephone cable. Each cable often includes as many as 3,000 insulated copper wires. When first deployed, transmission line cable wires were insulated with paper pulp, and such pulp insulated wires were used for many years thereafter. Later, in the 1950's, polyethylene insulated (PIC) wires were deployed. Today, pulp-insulated wire cables still carry a significant amount of telecom traffic, although the manufacture of such cables has been discontinued.
Typically, pulp insulated wires have the same color insulation so each is visually indistinguishable. Accordingly, identity particular wires in such cables can be difficult.
Typically, all the wires in a cable are divided into binder groups of twenty five pairs each. In a PIC cable (i.e., a cable including PIC insulated wires), each pair within a binder group has its own color code. For example, white/blue, white/orange, and black/orange are some commonly used color codes in a PIC cable. Typically, in both pulp and PIC cables, each binder group may be identified as a unit with a binder string, a tape, or by twisting wires within a binder group together.
To ensure reliable transmission of data, existing telecommunication cables require continuous maintenance. A common telecommunication cable maintenance routines involves replacement of worn, deteriorated, or damaged sections of cable with new cable sections. Another common maintenance routine involves confirming integrity of the cable section to isolate a defective portion of the cable. Both maintenance routines may require replacement of cable portions by splicing, or joining pieces of cable together. Splicing requires that each wire in one segment of cable be joined with a matching wire in another segment. Due to the extensive deployment of pulp cable, many splicing operations require joining new PIC cable, for example, with pulp cable. In existing telecommunication lines, a maintenance splicing task requires splicing portions of an existing pulp cable and replacing those portions with new PIC cable.
Typically, to insure high quality connections between spliced cables, splicing modules such as the 710 Module commercially available from 3M Corporation are used. Splicing module connectors may contain an insulation displacement connection device enabling simultaneous electrical connection of multiple pairs of two copper conductor cables. Such splicing modules can connect up to twenty-five such pairs at a time. A half-tap connector may be employed to join two cables without cutting the existing cable wires, thereby maintaining service during splicing. Users may also use straight connectors to make a straight or through splice. When a three-way splice is required, a user may incorporate a bridging connector to make an electrical connection between wire pairs in three cables simultaneously.
To identify and match wire pairs, a user may use tone tracing or other electronic identification techniques for each uncolored wire pair in a pulp or PIC cable. Conventional tone tracing test devices include commercially available Throwmaster, Side-Kick, or Dynatel pair testers. Picking one binder group at a time, a user may first attach a test lead to each included wire pair. A test probe including a sensitive amplifier may then be used to detect a tracing tone sent to each pair to identify a matching connection. Once a pair is identified, a matching connection may be made and the test lead is then moved to the next pair. This process is then repeated until all pairs are identified and matched. Since each pair is handled individually, tone testing each wire pair can be a time consuming task. In addition, the tone of the test device may not be detected due to a poor contact between the wires and the test lead. In which case, the test lead is reattached and wire pairs are retested until each is properly identified. Testing wire pairs thus can be a lengthy and complicated process. Moreover, repeated re-connections of the test probe may damage wire insulation, especially in an old pulp cable. It is therefore desirable to provide a method for more efficient, reliable, and less time consuming identification of unmarked cable pairs during cable splicing.